PSP 1000 series
The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP) 6 is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.7 Development of the console was first announced during E3 2003,8 and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004.9 The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004,10 in North America on March 24, 2005,11 and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005.12 The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage medium.1314 Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen,15 robust multi-media capabilities,16 and connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.1718 Despite the console's superior computing power and multimedia capabilities, sales have (with cyclical exceptions) lagged behind its main competitor, the Nintendo DS.19 Nevertheless, the console is "the most successful non-Nintendo handheld game system ever sold".20 After the release of a remodeled, slimmer, and lighter version of the PlayStation Portable, appropriately titled Slim and Lite, in early September 2007, sales quadrupled in the United Kingdom the following week and increased by nearly 200% in North America for the month of October.2122 History Sony first announced development of the PlayStation Portable at a press conference before E3 2003.23 Although mock-ups of the system were not present at the press conference or E3,23 Sony did release extensive technical details regarding the new system.24 Then-CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Ken Kutaragi called the device the "Walkman of the 21st Century" in a reference to the console's multimedia capabilities.25 Several gaming websites were impressed by the handheld's computing capabilities and looked forward to the system's potential as a gaming platform.82326 The first concept images of the PlayStation Portable appeared in November 2003 at the Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting and showed a PSP with flat buttons and no analog stick.27 Although some expressed concern over the lack of an analog joystick,28 these fears were allayed when the PSP was officially unveiled at the Sony press conference during E3 2004.29 In addition to announcing more details about the system and its accessories,30 Sony also released a list of 99 developer companies that had pledged support for the new handheld. Launch On October 17, 2004, Sony announced that the PSP would launch in Japan on December 12, 2004 at a price of ¥19,800 (about US$181 in 2004) for the base model and ¥24,800 (about US$226 in 2004) for the Value System.33 The console's launch was a success with over 200,000 units sold the first day.34 They also sell different color variations in bundle packs, which cost more than usual, around $200. Sony announced on February 3, 2005, that the PSP would go on sale in North America on March 24, 2005 in one configuration for a MSRP of US$249/CA$299.35 Some expressed concern over the high price,36 which was almost US$20 higher than the system's price in Japan and more than $100 higher than the recently launched Nintendo DS.37 Despite the concerns, the PSP's North American launch was a success,3839 although reports two weeks later indicated that the system was not selling as well as expected despite Sony's claim that 500,000 units had been sold in the first two days.4041 The PSP was originally to have a simultaneous PAL region and North American launch,30 but on March 15, 2005, Sony announced that the PAL region launch would be delayed because of high demand for the console in Japan and North America.42 A month later, on April 25, 2005, Sony announced that the PSP would launch in the PAL region on September 1, 2005 for €249/£179.43 Sony defended the high price, which was nearly US$100 higher than in North America, by pointing out that North American consumers had to pay local sales taxes and that the GST was higher in the UK than the US.44 Despite the high price, the console's PAL region launch was a resounding success, selling more than 185,000 units in the UK alone, selling out of all stock nation wide in the UK within 3 hours of launch, more than doubling the previous first-day sales record of 87,000 units set by the Nintendo DS.45 The system also enjoyed great success in other areas of the PAL region with more than 25,000 units preordered in Australia46 and nearly one million units sold across Europe in the first week. Retail Configurations The PSP is sold in two main configurations that differ in which accessories are included. The basic unit package or Base Pack (called the Core Pack in North America53) contains the console, a battery, and an AC adapter.54 This version was available at launch in Japan33 and was later released in North America and Europe.55 The Core Pack currently retails for CA$/US$169.99,53 ¥19,800,56 HK$1,280 or $1,360 (depending on the color),57 S$280,58 AU$279.95,59 NZ$299.95,60 €169.99, and £129.99.61 The Value Pack includes everything in the Base Pack as well as a 32 MB Memory Stick Pro Duo, headphones with remote control, a carrying pouch, and a wrist strap.54 Some regions have modified versions of this pack that include different accessories.62 The Value Pack retails for US$199,63 ¥26,040,64 HK$1660,65 AU$399.95,66 and NZ$449.95.62 Many limited edition versions of the PSP that include various accessories, games, or movies have also been released. Colors The PSP is currently available in eleven colors. These include piano black, ceramic white, ice silver, mystic silver, rose pink, deep red, champagne gold, felicia blue, mint green, lavender purple, and metallic blue. Only the piano black model is available in all regions.69 The ice silver, ceramic white, and deep red versions are available as stand-alone models in Asia6970 and as part of the "Daxter", "Star Wars Battlefront", and "God of War" entertainment packs in North America (with a Darth Vader silkscreen on the ceramic white model and a Kratos silkscreen on the deep red model).7172 The rose pink, champagne gold, felicia blue, and lavender purple versions are only available in Asia6973 and the mint green model is exclusive to Japan.74 The metallic blue color had been discontinued, but was made available again in North America as part of the Madden NFL 09 entertainment pack.75 Several other special edition models, such as the "Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops" camouflage PSP, have also been released.69 The pink and ice silver colors have been discontinued but the mystic silver is available in Oceanic in the Resistance bundle pack.69 It has been recently announced that Asia will get another four new colors; Vibrant Blue, Radiant Red, Bright Yellow and Spirited Green - in March 2009, under the release name of "Carnival Colors." Sales By March 31, 2007, the PlayStation Portable had shipped 25.39 million units worldwide with 6.92 million in Asia, 9.58 million in North America, and 8.89 million Europe.91 In Europe, the PSP sold 4 million units in 2006 and 3.1 million in 2007 according to estimates by Electronic Arts.9293 In 2007, the PSP sold 3.82 million units in the US according to the NPD Group9495 and 3,022,659 in Japan according to Enterbrain.969798 In 2008, the PSP sold 3,543,171 units in Japan, according to Enterbrain.8498 In the United States, the PSP has sold 10.47 million units as of January 1, 2008, according to the NPD Group.868788 In Japan, during the week of March 24 – March 30, 2008, the PSP nearly outsold all the other game consoles combined with 129,986 units sold, some of which were bundled with Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G,99 which was the best-selling game in that week, according to Media Create.100 As of December 28, 2008, the PSP has sold 11,078,484 units in Japan, according to Enterbrain.8485 In Europe, the PSP has sold 12 million units as of May 6, 2008, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.89 In the United Kingdom, the PSP has sold 3.2 million units as of January 3, 2009, according to GfK Chart-Track.90 Hardware The PlayStation Portable uses the common "slab" or "candybar" form factor, measures approximately 17 x 7.3 x 2.2 cm (6.7 x 2.9 x 0.9 in), and weighs 280 grams (9.88 ounces). The front of the console is dominated by the system's 11 cm (4.3 in) LCD screen, which is capable of 480 x 272 pixel video playback with 16.77 million colors. Also on the front are the four PlayStation face buttons (Triangle, Circle, X, Square), the directional pad, the analog 'nub', and several other buttons. In addition, the system includes two shoulder buttons and a USB 2.0 mini-B port on the top of the console and a WLAN switch and power cable input on the bottom. The back of the PSP features a read-only UMD drive for movies and games, and a reader compatible with Sony's Memory Stick Duo flash cards is located on the left of the system. Other features include an IrDA compatible infrared port (discontinued in PSP-2000 and later series), built in stereo speakers and headphone port, and IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi for access to the Internet, ad-hoc multiplayer gaming, and data transfer.7 The PSP uses two 333 MHz MIPS32 R4000-based CPUs, a GPU with 2 MB onboard VRAM running at 166 MHz, and includes 32 MB main RAM and 4 MB embedded DRAM in total.7 The hardware was originally forced to run more slowly than it was capable of and most games ran at 222 MHz.101 However, with firmware update 3.50 on May 31, 2007, Sony removed this limit and allowed new games to run at a full 333 MHz.102 The PSP includes an 1800 mAh battery that will provide about 4–6 hours of gameplay, 4–5 hours of video playback, or 8–11 hours of audio playback.29103 Official accessories for the console include the AC adapter, car adapter, headset, headphones with remote control, extended-life 2200 mAh battery, battery charger, carrying case, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, and system pouch and wrist strap. Software System Software Sony has included the ability for the operating system, referred to as the System Software, to be updated.105 The updates can be downloaded directly from the Internet using the Network Update feature, or they can be downloaded from the official PlayStation website to a computer, transferred to a Memory Stick Duo, and subsequently installed on the system. Updates can also be installed from UMD game discs that require the update to run the game.105 While system software updates can be used with consoles from any region,106 Sony recommends only downloading system software updates released for the region corresponding to the system's place of purchase.105 System software updates have added various features including a web browser,107 Adobe Flash support,108 additional codecs for images, audio, and video,107109 PlayStation 3 connectivity,110 as well as patches against several security exploits, vulnerabilities, and execution of homebrew programs.111112 It is currently at v5.55 which is only accessible by purchasing the game G.I. Joe : Rise of the Cobra. This version is not available on the internet. Graphical user interface The PSP's version of the XrossMediaBar (pronounced Cross Media Bar and abbreviated XMB) includes seven categories of options. These include Settings, Photo, Music, Video, Game, Network, and Playstation Network.113 The PSP has the capability to play photo slideshows and audio and video files, stored on a Memory Stick Duo,114115116 monitor and save content from RSS channels,117 and send and receive photos wirelessly with other PSPs while in ad-hoc mode.118 The PSP also includes the ability to customize the appearance of the XMB with different colors, photos, or themes.119 Although the XMB can be accessed at any time by pressing the Home button,120 the currently running application will exit before the XMB comes up (with the exception of a photo slideshow, and most of the applications in the "Network" column.).121122 It is now also possible to change the appearance of the PSP with "theme" files, with there being few official ones and mostly user made, though legitimate, theme files. Web browser The PSP Internet Browser is an embedded microbrowser. It is a version of the NetFront browser made by Access Co. Ltd. and was released for free with the 2.00 system software update.107 The browser supports most common web technologies, such as HTTP cookies, forms, CSS, as well as basic JavaScript capabilities.123 The version 2.50 upgrade added Unicode (UTF-8) character encoding and Auto-Select as options in the browser's encoding menu, and also introduced the saving of input history for online forms. Version 2.70 of the PSP's system software introduced basic Flash capabilities to the browser.108 However, the player runs Flash version 6, four iterations behind the current desktop version 10,124 making some websites difficult to view.108 There are 3 different rendering modes: "Normal", "Just-Fit", and "Smart-Fit". "Normal" will display the page with no changes, "Just-Fit" will attempt to shrink some elements to make the whole page fit on the screen and preserve layout (although this makes some pages extremely difficult to read), and "Smart-Fit" will display content in the order it appears in the HTML, and with no size adjustments; instead it will drop an element down below the preceding element if it starts to go off the screen. The browser also has limited tabbed browsing, with a maximum of three tabs. When a website tries to open a link in a new window, the browser opens it in a new tab.125 Alternatively, homebrew has allowed a custom version of the browser to be released that utilizes all 32/64 MB of a PSP's RAM, which allows the browser to load pages faster.126 Opera Mini can also be used on PSP via a homebrew program known as PSPKVM, which is much faster than the default browser. Remote Play Remote Play allows the PSP to access many features of a PlayStation 3 console from a remote location using the PS3's WLAN capabilities, a home network, or the Internet.128 Features that can be used with Remote Play include viewing photos and slideshows, listening to music, watching videos stored on the PS3's HDD, and several other features.129 Additionally, Remote Play allows the PS3 to be turned on and off remotely and allows the PSP to control audio playback from the PS3 to a home theater system without having to use a television.130131 Although most of the PS3's capabilities are accessible with Remote Play, playback of DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and PlayStation 2 games, most PlayStation 3 games, and copy-protected files stored on the PS3's hard drive are not supported. VOIP access Starting with system software version 3.90, PSP 2000 series and PSP 3000 series can use the Skype VOIP service. The PSP-2000 requires a headset for this feature while the microphone is built into the PSP-3000. Due to hardware restraints, it is not possible to use the VOIP service on PSP 1000 series. Homebrew development Main Article:PSP Homebrew On June 15, 2005, hackers disassembled the code of the PSP and distributed it online.140 Initially the modified PSP allowed users to run custom code and a limited amount of protected software. Sony responded to this by repeatedly upgrading the software.141 Over time curious parties were able to unlock the firmware and allow users to run more custom content and more protected software. One of the ways hackers were able to run protected software on the PSP was through the creation of ISO loaders which could load copies of UMD games from the memory stick. Some hackers speculate that the creation of the ISO loader is the reason for increased PSP sales, but reduced sales of PSP games. Category:New pages